


Unexpected Oneshots

by TheKnightsJedi



Series: Unexpected [2]
Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Multi, oneshots of different characters' perspectives on the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-11-22 17:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11385258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKnightsJedi/pseuds/TheKnightsJedi
Summary: I was supposed to post this a few weeks ago, but between my cousin marrying a woman whose mother dislikes his family and my younger sister's cancer diagnosis, it's been a little rough.





	1. Emily's Perspective on Chapters 3 & 4

Leah was looking off towards the ocean, staring at nothing, not listening to Sam as he talked about the vampires who’d nearly started a war with us. Nothing seemed to interest her anymore, not even reminiscing about a near fight with the most powerful coven in the world.

I wrapped Sam’s hand between both of mine as I puzzled over the recent changes in my cousin. For the last two weeks, she never spoke unless addressed directly and her answers were never more than a few words.

What happened  to her ? I thought she was happy now that she was no longer a part of Sams pack, at least that’s what Rachel claimed.  But now, she looked worse than I’d ever seen her. Even after Sam, there’d been an undercurrent anger that frightened me, but now, nothing. It was as though the fight had been drained out of her, leaving her empty.

A niggling unease whispered through my mind, that a part of this was my fault, but I pushed it away. Sam imprinting on me hadn’t been my choice so I shouldn’t feel guilty that he had. It wasn’t my fault thing had turned out the way they had; magic decided that Leah wasn’t right for him, but for some reason I was. So what did I have to feel guilty about?

Suddenly, the wolves cheered, drawing my attention away from Leah. She had me so confused as I tried to to figure out what was wrong with her that I hadn’t even noticed Sam had launched into his speech, which was unusual.

When Leah got in line, I kept an eye on her. Unlike before, she didn’t fight with the others for food. In fact, her pack had to make sure she got her fair share, even going so far as to get into an almost scrape with Paul to make sure she had food.

Once she’d filled her played, instead of joining anyone to eat, she went down to the edge of the water and sat down. Instead of scarfing her food down the way every other wolf, she picked at it slowly, as though it held no interest for her.

After she ate, she wrapped her arms around her legs and stared out at the ocean once more. What was she thinking about? She seemed so lost, so fragile, so unlike the Leah she was the last time I’d seen her. If I didn’t know any better I’d say she was grieving, but for what?

Her distress ate at me and I hated that I couldn’t do anything to help her, but she wouldn’t accept my help, not anymore. I missed her, my best friend, the one who’d been as close as a sister.

“Claire, get back here!” Quil shouted as he ran after his little imprint.

“Wanna see Leah!” Claire demanded.

Leah barely tilted her head when she heard her name, but kept her eyes trained on the water in front of her.

“Nah, honey, Leah wants to be left alone right now.”

“But-”

“No.” Quil picked up Claire and hauled her over his shoulder as she protested.

“Who’s up for a game of soccer?” Paul asked as he set down his plate and Sam’s pack agreed readily

“We don’t have enough players for our side,” Embry objected.

“Maybe Leah will help even up the teams,” Sam said, with a gesture towards Leah.

“Leave her alone, Sam,” Seth said. “She doesn’t want to play.”

“She’ll play,” Sam said confidently as he walked over to her and I hated how he knew that. I hated that he still had a pull over her, that I wasn’t the only woman to hold his heart, for despite the imprint, he still loved her.

When Sam started talking to Leah, she turned away from him, treating him as though he meant nothing to her. Sam stared at her for a long moment, but she didn’t seem to notice him.

I glanced at Kim and then turned back to look at Leah.

Once the game started, not even Jake’s pleading could get her to join them, so finally, Nessie took her spot. Instead, she lowered her head to her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs, almost as though she was in pain.

“What’s wrong with Leah?” Kim asked, her face creased with worry.

Finally, someone else noticed her distress and commented on it. Now I felt a little less crazy for thinking there was something horribly wrong with her.

“I don’t know,” I said quietly, hoping she was too far away to hear what we were saying. “She was doing good. With the two pack minds, separation and all that, I thought she’d finally accepted being a wolf, but then after that near fight, she’s been like this. I’m worried about her, but she doesn’t talk to me anymore so I have no idea what’s going on.”

Leah stood up and started walking, slowly away from us.

“Damn it,” I muttered, “she heard us.”

“That’s what happens when you gossip around wolves. They hear everything,” Rachel said, the subtle annoyance in her voice shocking me.

“Something’s wrong with her though, I wish I knew how to help,” I said. How could I make this all go away? I wanted her back. I missed being able to talk to her about anything, but it felt more than strange to talk to Leah about Sam or anything about my new life. In my head, I liked to imagine that we were best friends again, gossiping about our love lives, with our children running around outside. But in reality, she had no love life, because the wolf in Sam chose me over her, and she couldn’t have children.

“She’s not like anyone else on the planet and that means we have no idea how to relate to her, so we have to stop trying to force her to conform to our standards. Let her be her own person instead of trying to control her.”

“We’re not trying to control her!” It hurt that Rachel would think that. Once upon a time, Leah was the closest thing I had to a sister. “She needs us!”

“Maybe what she needs and what we think she needs are two different things.”

“You’ve been gone for years, Rachel. You haven’t seen her change.” How could I make her understand? How could I make her see that Leah did need us and that Rachel had no right to judge us?

Sam made a good kick and I couldn’t help but cheer him on, but before he could celebrate too much, Nessie tackled him to the ground, a wide grin on her face.

“I have been away, but I think that might give me a perspective on things and allow me to see things from both points of view,” Rachel said in a low voice. “She’s not human and we have to stop treating her like she is.”

“Maybe things’d be easier for her if she could have a baby,” Kim commented and I found myself nodding in agreement.

Children was something Leah wanted since we were little girls and it made me sad to think that she would never have one, at least as long as she remained a wolf. I found myself dreading the moment I would have to tell her I was pregnant, because that meant one more thing with Sam that Leah was denied.

“There has to be something more, something no one’s telling us.” Kim turned to Rachel. “Does Jake know what’s going on with her?”

Leah returned from her little walk and sat back down, wrapping her arms around her knees and staring out at the ocean once more. There was something almost tragic about the look on her face and I was reminded of those stories about the women who waited by the sea for their husbands to come home. Night after night, they would go down to the edge, knowing that they would never see them again.

Something uncomfortable twisted at my heart, but I pushed the feeling away, focusing instead on my pack sisters.

“He’s been keeping mum. I asked him and he told me that if I wanted to know what was going on with her, to talk to her,” Rachel said. “His entire pack has pretty much closed ranks around her. I mean, you saw tonight how they make sure she’s okay as best they can.”

“I wish I could do something.” I sighed, my heart aching for the woman who had once been my closest friend, before the supernatural showed me my destiny.

Leah suddenly jumped up and bolted for the woods, with Seth shouting after her. He made a move to follow her, but Jake stopped him. I couldn’t hear what they said, but from the way Seth acted, they were waiting for Leah to phase out before they chased after her.

“I think she heard us, again,” Rachel said.

I hoped she was wrong. Tears filled my eyes and my heart twisted again. Hurting Leah was the last thing I wanted to do, but it seemed like everything I did caused her more pain. Why couldn’t I do anything right by her anymore? Every move I made ended up hurting her that much more. How would she react once we did start having children?

“Where’d Leah go?” Sam asked as Jake and Seth disappeared into the trees.

“I think she went home,” I said, a flash of annoyance cutting through my sadness. He was still worried about her, far more than any other imprinted wolf had ever worried about another woman. I wanted to scream at him, to remind him that he left her, but I kept my mouth shut.

Unable to do anything more, I walked over to the tables and started putting food away, my mind in a tizzy. Why did this have to happen like this? Why did I have to lose my best friend? It wasn’t fair. None of this was.

The other imprints came over to help me, but this time, we worked in silence.

Leah’s face haunted me and I needed to know that she was okay. Maybe I was no better than Sam in that I couldn’t stop worrying about Leah, thinking about her.

As soon as everything was cleared away, I headed over to the Clearwater place, driving as fast as I dared.

There was no movement from the curtained windows when I pulled up, but I knew that if they were inside, they heard me. Normally, one of the wolves would have answered the door by now, but it remained firmly closed. Perplexed, I climbed out of the car.

Rubbing my hands on my jeans, I knocked on the door. To my surprise. Embry answered and he didn’t look happy to see me.

“Is Leah here?” I asked, unable to stop myself from wringing my hands.

“Jake’s pack only allowed, I’m afraid,” Embry answered, his voice strangely cool. “We’ve got some private business to discuss.”

What could be so important now? Was there some new threat they weren’t telling Sam about?

“Could I at least talk to her?” I was desperate. I needed to know if there was anything I could do to make this go away.

“‘Fraid not.” Embry then shut the door in my face, leaving me stunned on the front porch.

I shifted my feet, trying to decide if I should wait to see if they’d let me speak to Leah after all, or if I should just leave. When it became apparent that no one was going to open the door again, I walked back to my car and drove away.

Would I ever be able to fix this? But before I could think on that any further, another thought tugged at my mind. What were they keeping from everyone? Whatever it was, it had to be something for them to effectively shut everyone out except for Jake’s pack.

When I arrived at my home, I found Sam sitting at the kitchen table.

“What happened?” Sam asked.

“I went to try to talk to Leah. Her pack refused to let me through the door.” I leaned against the counter and ran my hand over my face. “I just, she looked so sad today. I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help, but I couldn’t even see her.”

“I’ll talk to Jake later.” Sam walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it will blow over.”

I wanted to believe him, but something about Leah’s actions today made me feel like something had changed, I just didn’t know what.


	2. Emily's Perspective on chapters 14 & 15

Spending Saturday morning sitting in a vampire’s living room wasn’t my idea of fun, but if it was the only way I could see Leah, then I would try to swallow my fear. But Leah was still in bed and no one seemed eager to wake her up.

“Will she be down soon?” I asked, worried.

“She’ll come down when she gets out of bed,” Emmett said, his expression making me think he was trying to keep from laughing about something.

“She’s still in bed?”

“I don’t think she’ll be coming down any time soon,” Embry added, his lips twitching.

So Embry was in on the joke as well.

I glanced at Sam and was surprised to see how tight his jaw was. Just what the hell was going on?

“So no one minds that Leah is currently upstairs screwing a leech?” Sam snarled.

“What?” I found myself unable to process what he’d just said.

Leah, with a vampire? She hated vampires almost as much as Sam did! Vampires destroyed her life, took everything she wanted, hoped for, and gave it to me, so what prompted her to do this?

“Sam, enough,” Jake sighed.

“You’re really not going to say anything about your second in command sleeping with a tick?”

“You’re in a houseful of vampires and my imprint is a hybrid. Why the hell would I care who Leah goes to bed with?”

“Leah? And a vampire?” I shook my head, trying to fit this new information into my thoughts.

“Sue, why aren’t you saying anything?” Sam snapped angrily. “You don’t care that your daughter’s become a vampire’s whore?”

Jake and Seth leaped to their feet, a shudder passing through both of them.

“Sam, if you ever talk about my sister like that again, you will regret it.” Seth’s upper lip curled back over his teeth and a soft growl slid out.

I’d never seen Seth like this before. He was normally so easy going.

“Dude, that’s kinda uncalled for,” Embry said as he shifted, preparing to stand.

“Everyone back off.” The huge vampire standing at the foot of the stairs crossed his arms, reminding everyone of just how strong he was with a ripple of his muscles.

Paul grabbed Sam’s arm and kept him pinned him to the couch.

“Jazz, do you mind?” The little, black haired vampire sitting on top of the piano looked expectantly at the blond haired man standing next to the huge one.

All at once, a wave of calm washed over us and Sam relaxed next to me.

“Now that everyone’s calmed down, perhaps we can remind you that name calling is going to get us nowhere?”

Dr. Cullen’s voice broke us out of the daze and I realized what had just happened. So that’s what Jasper’s talent felt like. No wonder the wolves got irritated about it, wanting to feel one way, but being forced to feel something else was a strange experience.

Jake moved to stand behind the other couch, bracing his hands on the back of it, and Seth sat down at his mother’s feet, leaning his head against her leg.

A roar from upstairs, followed by a hard thump, caused me to jump in fear.

“Don’t worry,” the blond man standing at the foot of the stairs said. “Vampire sex can get a little rough sometimes.”

“Jesus,” Embry chuckled. “What the hell did she do?”

“Guys, please. That’s my sister you’re talking about. It’s bad enough to hear them going at it. I don’t need a commentary.”

It was shocking, coming here, expecting to find Leah sickly and slowly recovering, only to discover she’d fallen into bed with a vampire. This wasn’t something I’d ever thought I’d find. I’d gotten so used to knowing that Leah was in love with my fiance that finding out she’d apparently moved on at all, didn’t compute with what I thought I knew about my cousin.

The artificial calm faded from the room and every muscle in Sam’s body tensed as he clenched his fist against his thigh.

Finally, Leah and the vampire came down the stairs and I gasped. He wasn’t a golden eyed Cullen, but a red eyed monster! He caught me staring and he smirked. He was unnervingly beautiful with his olive pallor and sharp features, but I didn’t want to look away

“Don’t,” Leah said, pointing at Emmett.

“I didn’t need to say anything.” Emmett held up his hands as he moved just a few feet away from Jacob. “Everyone already heard it. And I do mean everyone, even the humans.”

“What’d you do to make him lose control like that?” His eyes gleamed with amusement.

“Emmett,” the softer looking female vampire, Esme I thought, sitting on the piano bench said. “Leah has already asked that you refrain from teasing her like that when her family is present. Respect her wishes.”

“Yes, ma’am. Sorry.”

So it wasn’t the first time they’d had sex?

I looked at Leah, wondering what was going through her head. Her expression was odd, almost peaceful, which was strange considering it was Leah. She and the vampire walked over to the couch where Sue and her pack were gathered. Leah sat on one end with the vampire taking the arm of the couch next to her.

Was that? She seriously had a hickey? How the hell? Wolves healed too fast for them to develop them, didn’t they?

“What made you think it was acceptable to sleep with a vampire?” Sam growled, shaking he was so furious.

“I believe it was the same thing that made you think it was acceptable to sleep with her cousin,” the vampire replied as he brushed Leah’s hair out of her face.

What was he saying? And that look in his eyes twisted at my heart. I’d never once believed that I’d see a red eyed vampire so gentle, especially towards a wolf, but this one, he seemed truly caring towards Leah.

“You honestly expect us to believe that a wolf imprinted on a _bloodsucker_?! That is such shit!” Sam snarled.

Leah!? Imprinted?!?! If finding out that Leah decided to sleep with a vampire was a shock, it had nothing on this.

“Why else would she allow me to touch her and for her pack to do nothing to stop me?” The vampire’s voice held a note of arrogance that I knew Sam wouldn’t be able to tolerate.

“I cannot accept this!” Sam leaped to his feet.

“Everyone, even my own parents, supported you when you imprinted!” Leah jumped up and got into Sam’s face, so angry she was almost spitting. “Why don’t you give me the same goddamn courtesy? I don’t know why I thought you might, considering you didn’t wait even a week before chasing someone you knew was like my sister! You took my closest friend from me and you hid, like a goddamn coward! Now you think you get to judge me for _my_ imprint? You have no right, Samuel Uley! None! You tried to excuse your actions towards me by saying you had no choice! So you’re gonna have to accept that I had the same amount of choice in the matter that you did!”

Hearing Leah’s perspective on what happened, the guilt I’d buried attempted to force its way to the surface, but I beat it back down. The imprinting wasn’t my fault, so it wasn’t my fault.

“You might want to back off while you still can, because she’ll eat you alive, boy,” the vampire said, a wicked grin on his face.

“At least I didn’t rub my sex life in your face!” Sam shouted.

All at once, Leah punched Sam in the face, sending him flying backwards.

“Leah!” I gasped, surprised that she would strike him.

“I can’t help what you overhear when you show up somewhere uninvited.”

“Burn!” Embry snickered.

“He isn’t capable of emotion and you’ll never be more than his slave, his whore,” Sam’s voice sounded oddly bitter.

Before I could process anything else, Demetri had Sam back on the floor, one arm twisted beneath him, with his knee in Sam’s chest and his hand tight around the wolf’s throat. A low snarl rumbled in Demetri’s chest and a snarl curled his lips. Sam choked, struggling for breath and I screamed in fear at seeing the man I loved on the ground with a vampire pinning him down, his venom coated teeth bared frighteningly close to Sam’s exposed neck.

Paul and Jared moved to defend Sam, but the vampire slammed them both away as easily as if they were human before they could even think to phase. He then returned his attention to Sam as he lay gasping for breath on the ground, going so far as to press his knee against Sam’s windpipe.

“Demetri, let him go. He’s not worth a fight,” Leah called and in an instant, the vampire straightened and stared Sam down, his expression unsettlingly blank.

I knelt down beside Sam, placing my hand on his back as he wheezed through his bruised windpipe. It took longer than I thought it should for him to heal, a testament to the strength of the vampire who’d hurt him.

“Know this, if you ever speak to or about Leah like that again, I will make you give up on the prospect of ever dying before I finally grant you mercy,” the vampire said as he brushed off the front of his jacket with an elegant flick of his wrist. “You don’t own her and you have no say in her life. I suggest you remember that.”

Demetri and Leah returned to the couch and I swore I could feel my heart pounding in my neck as I rubbed Sam’s back.

Sam flipping out over Leah’s imprinting shook me. Why did he get so angry over Leah with someone else? While I was surprised over this, his reaction was a lost more than I’d been expecting. Until this moment, I’d thought that Sam and I were stronger than his feelings for Leah, but I couldn’t have been more mistaken.

Since finding out about the imprint, I’d taken advantage of how easy it felt to be with Sam. I never thought I’d have to feel this sinking sensation in my stomach and the heavy weight in my heart because Sam was supposed to be completely loyal to me. But I realized that I didn’t understand the imprint at all, none of us did.

“Good boy. Sit,” Demetri mocked.

“You think you’re better than I am, don’t you?”

“I am better than you are, in every respect, but I think we’ve already established that.”

Was he referring to-? Oh, god, he was.

“Goddamned leech.” Sam was almost spitting, he was so angry and the way he shifted, I knew he was about to attack again.

“Alright, everyone, back off.” Emmett crossed his arms, flexing them again. “Yeah I know, you think it’s weird as hell that Leah ended up in a freaky magic relationship with this jackass, but cut her some slack, will ya? She’s dealing with enough keeping him in line.”

“How do we know he won’t turn on her like that?” Jared asked.

“Glad to know you’re so worried about my well-being.” Leah scowled at him.

“To harm her would be to harm myself,” Demetri said smoothly. “And I’m not in the habit of purposefully causing myself pain.”

Silence reigned for a long moment and the things I’d witnessed since I’d arrived at the Cullens started tormenting me. Just how much was Sam still in love with Leah? He’d asked me to marry him, but he still wanted Leah? I thought he’d be relieved that Leah seemed to be happy. Instead, he got angry, jealous almost. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be!

I no longer saw the imprint as a blessing, instead it seemed more like a burden. Sam still felt more for Leah than I’d believed and now I was bound to him because magic decided that I was a better match for him than Leah. But it didn’t seem like a good thing anymore.

“I guess one good thing about all this is that Leah doesn’t have to worry about getting pregnant,” Kim commented. “I mean having a hybrid baby would be scary, not knowing if you’re gonna survive the pregnancy or not.”

“Seriously? You’re gonna bring that up now?” Leah’s anger surfaced again.

Even I was surprised at Kim for saying that, but I understood what she wanted to do. She was trying to make me feel better over what we’d found out.

“Whether or not Leah can have children should be something no one discusses unless she brings it up first,” Demetri said, his voice dangerous. “To do otherwise is not just rude, it can also lend itself to being cruel.”

Kim shrank back, realizing that she’d crossed a line with the vampire she should have stayed away from. Demetri was far more lethal than any of us had ever encountered before. He’d probably killed more people than days I’d lived and that was scary.

Demetri grinned suddenly, exposing his teeth and I felt a thrill of fear racing down my spine. Just how many ways could this vampire terrify me? It seemed as though he was coming up with a new way every few seconds.

“You really are being a little shit, you know that right?” Leah grinned at him, clearly unafraid of him

“Then tell me to stop.” Demetri gave a look that could have been innocent if not for the wicked grin curling around his mouth. “You’re staring, my darling. It’s not exactly an incentive to behave myself.”

Leah punched him lightly in the stomach and he chuckled.

The tall, blonde vampire dashed into the room, stopping in front of Leah. Leah held out her hands and Rosalie leaned forward, taking something from her. When the vampire stepped back, I couldn’t process what I was seeing.

“What the hell?” Paul almost jumped from his seat.

I blinked several times, still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Leah was holding a child, a perfect, beautiful child that looked remarkably like her. What was this? Who was this girl? A sick feeling started twisting low in my stomach and I shied away from what it could mean.

“What your language. She can understand you.” Leah kissed the top of the baby’s head and brushed her dark hair out of her face. “Her name is Haylla Rosalin and she was born yesterday, but she’s already smarter than you are.”

There was a conversation between Leah and her imprint, but I couldn’t focus on what they were saying. All I could think was that Leah had her imprint and her baby. That baby she thought she’d never have was in her arms. Leah was a mother.

Every reason Sam and I had come up with for why he’d had imprinted on me instead of Leah had just been proven wrong. All the guilt I’d kept at bay with the excuses overwhelmed me and I felt strangely hollow.

All the tears Leah had shed, all the betrayal she’d endured at our hands, beat at my mind. We did that to her. I did that to her, all because I’d been entranced by the supernatural and I’d allowed the fact that a wolf had imprinted on me to go to my head. There was nothing special about the imprint, not really. It just meant that I owned a wolf who didn’t want me.

“One would think they’d never seen a child before,” Demetri’s whispered loudly. “I think I reacted better than that when I learned I was going to be a father and I believed for a thousand years it was not a possibility.”

“I just- I mean. It’s a lot to take in,” Rachel struggled for words. So I wasn’t the only one struggling to understand. “Two weeks ago we didn’t even know she’d imprinted much less gotten pregnant.”

“Not to mention that even though she was dealing with pregnancy hormones, she kept quiet about how much pain she was in when he went back with his coven for three weeks,” Seth said. He seemed determined that everyone know how supportive of his sister he was. “She didn’t try to talk him into staying, or chase after him. She let him go.”

“I’d like to see any other wolf manage to do that,” Quil added. “Hell, if it were me, I’d have chased my imprint wherever she went, but not Leah. She allowed him to leave her, to put an ocean and a continent between them because she refused to allow him to force her to beg. I saw her thoughts, felt her pain, even though she tried so hard to hide it, to keep what had happened a secret, and I can’t imagine the strength it took to do what she did.”

Leah had been able to do what no other wolf had ever been able to: she’d let her imprint go. If anyone had a reason to try to persuade their imprint to stay, it was Leah. He’s slept with her, but because he told her he wanted to leave, she’d abided by his wishes, not knowing if he’d ever come abck.

I couldn’t help but thinking about how Sam had kept pushing even after I told him to leave, excusing his actions by saying that I didn’t truly want him to leave. He hadn’t cared about my feeling, not really.

Nessie ran through the door then, dragging me from my thoughts, but I couldn’t find it in me to pay attention to what she and Jake were saying.

Sam stood up suddenly, and said, “I think we’d better go.”

We went outside and I wordlessly held out my hand for the car keys.

“Come on, Sam, let’s run home,” Jared said.

“I’ll drive.” Kim took the keys from me and I woodenly climbed into a car.

The scenery passed me by without me noticing we were even moving.

“Are you okay?” Kim asked.

“I don’t want to talk, Kim, please.” My throat felt tight and my eyes burned with unshed tears.

This was everything I never thought I’d experience after Sam had told me about the imprint and what it meant.

Why did Leah get the perfect imprint? They seemed so happy, so at ease with each other, and their baby was just beautiful.

Nothing was right anymore. I thought I’d been perfectly happy with my life and my relationship, but now, when compared with Leah’s imprint, it proved to be tarnished.

When Kim finally pulled into my drive, I climbed out and started walking until I found myself staring out at the ocean. Faced with how Leah handled her imprint in comparison to how Sam did, coupled with Sam’s reaction to Leah’s imprinting, I felt my heart breaking.

Leah wouldn’t take this lying down, she never did take anyone’s crap. She would have flown into a rage over this. Unlike me. I hated to think of what that made me.

“Emily?”

Why couldn’t he leave me alone? I didn’t want to be near him right now. Couldn’t he see that? That’s why I came out here!

“Emily, please.”

“I don’t want to talk, Sam.” I kept my gaze resolutely away from him.

“You’re my imprint!”

“You still love her, Sam. She’s obviously been able to move on, but you haven’t!” I lowered my head, trying to fight back the tears. “You asked me to marry you, but you still want her.”

He wrapped his hands around my upper arms, but I pulled away.

Did he imagine her when he was with me? When he was in my bed, did he picture her, pretend she was the one in his arms? I couldn’t bear to have him touch me with that being the possibility and nausea twisted at my stomach. 

“Emily,” Sam tried again.

“The only reason you’re with me is because of the imprint. The wolf in you may belong to me, but your heart is still hers.”

“That’s not true! I love you!”

“Leave me alone, please. Before I say something I’ll regret.”

Because Sam had been unable to tolerate my rejection, he’d left me scarred and almost killed me. Who knows how he would react with what I was thinking now?

Today, Leah proved just how strong she was, so much stronger than any other wolf. Maybe that’s why Sam imprinted on me instead of her, because she would completely overpower him, while Demetri could hold his own against her and they both gave as good as they got.

All the pieces of my life over the last year had fallen apart around me and I didn’t know where to begin to put everything back together again. It felt like the ground had crumbled beneath my feet and I was searching for footing and failing. Sam hadn’t been honest with himself or with me, until he’d been confronted with Leah’s new life and now I had no idea where to go from there.

Was this how Leah felt when Sam imprinted on me? She’d thought she and Sam were solid and she’d stood by him even when she didn’t know what was going on with him, only for him to leave her for me. Then, I thought we’d been solid, only to find out he was still in love with her.

A chill wind blew in off the ocean and I shivered against the cold. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to come out here without a jacket of any kind and I reluctantly turned home. That’s what I got for being too used to Sam holding me, I forgot what it was like to stand on my own.

As I approached my house, I couldn’t help but think about how the home that I’d prided myself on being so warm and safe now felt more like the scene of the biggest lie.


	3. Demetri's time away from Leah

I bit through the soft skin of the throat and warm, sweet blood filled my mouth and I swallowed greedily. Far too soon, the blood ran out and I dropped the now empty husk at my feet before grabbing another one. Jane hissed at me as I snatched the prey from her grasp, but fortunately, she let it go, distracted by another heartbeat. This one, I drained equally fast and then retreated to the edge of the room, my thirst sated for now, and watched my brethren feed.

Much like every other time we gathered in any fashion since returning from the States, I felt nothing for any of them, aside from Felix. Everyone else could catch fire and I wouldn’t care. In fact, some of them I might spit on to encourage the flames.

Since when did I not care about them? For nine hundred years they were my family, the people I would defend to my last breath. But that was no longer true, not anymore. I’d never been uncomfortable around them before, but now I felt a sense of dread being near certain members.

Inhaling at the thought, I glanced at Marcus, but he seemed to preoccupied with his own meal to notice me. I darted away lest he catch on to the change in my feelings towards my fellow Guard members.

Once in my quarters, I sat at the piano, playing, or rather banging angrily on the keys.

Everything changed when I realized that I was not a part of an impenetrable fighting force. The wolves proved that when seventeen stood with the Cullens and their allies that day.

The wolves. Leah. Why did that woman haunt me so? I knew her for barely a night.

What did she do to me? My mind was no longer my own. Or maybe it was that for the first time in centuries, my mind was truly my own, rather than focused on my masters. I bowed my knee to them. Their lives meant more to me than my own did. For the entirety of my time with the Volturi, their wills superseded mine, until now.

Everything felt so hollow now. All the things I thought mattered seemed empty. That thought left a sour taste in my mouth. What was I doing with my eternity?

After so many years of loyal service, my masters were no longer my first priority. All I wanted was to go back and unravel the mystery of the fiercely vulnerable contradiction of the she-wolf.

She was fighter, willing to go to war for her pack, but there was a gentleness to her that drew me in. When I laid with Leah, I felt valued, cherished, which was a novel experience for me. The night I spent in her arms, I never felt so connected to anyone as I to with her. She hadn’t wanted me for being a part of the Volturi, but because she was attracted to me.

At least, that’s how it felt at the time, now I wasn’t so sure.

But why did it matter why she wanted me? It never had before. What made Leah so different? I’d never gotten in knots over everyone for a thousand years, but a wolf girl who was willing to take my head off twisted me up like I could never remember feeling.

The door to my chambers opened, then shut. The only one who came in without knocking was Heidi. Her sweet aroma filled the room and for a moment, I found myself wishing for the ceder fire and lily and fresh turned earth scent of Leah’s skin.

“What are you doing in here?” I asked with a glance over my shoulder.

“After all this time you still have to ask?” Heidi slinked towards me, her lacy black dress held up only by her elbows, and she looked at me from under her eyelashes. “I thought you knew me better than that.”

“Please, leave.”

As the words left my lips, I almost couldn’t believe it. Any other time, I would have taken her up on the offer without a second thought, but not now. I just couldn’t bring myself to touch her. While she was beautiful, the stirrings of lust I normally felt when she dressed like that were completely absent.

I ached for scorching heat and soft skin giving beneath my hands, two things Heidi lacked, and things I didn’t know I wanted until I’d lain with Leah. As memories of her played out in my mind, I felt myself start to respond.

Closing my eyes, I pushed the desire for the she-wolf down so Heidi wouldn’t think she was the one responsible for my reaction. If she thought that, there would be no getting her out of my room.

“Come now, Demetri, we haven’t had sex in over a month.”

“I’m busy.”

“You’d rather play your music than have me in your bed?” Heidi scoffed and crossed her arms as her face twisted into a pout.

“Heidi, I’m not interested.” I turned my back on her, annoyed at her inability to accept my rejection.

“Since when are you refusing sex?”

She was so used to getting her way that now that she was being denied something, she didn’t know how to react, other than throwing a tantrum. Why did I want her in the first place, other than that she had a pretty face? Any connection I felt to her seemed to have disappeared the day I met Leah.

“Don’t tell me. It’s Carlisle, isn’t it?”

“I beg your pardon?” I didn’t turn around to look at her as much as I wanted to for fear she might take that as encouragement. I tinkered with the keys for a moment, trying to find a way to express this change in me.

“Felix told me that the two of you had a bit of a thing going while he was here.”

“Why would that be an issue? We went our separate ways long before you joined us.”

Was it really so hard for her to believe that I might no longer want to be intimate with her so she had to come up with a reason why?

While I cared for Carlisle, I didn’t feel for him the way Heidi seemed to think and it annoyed me that she believed she knew me better than I knew myself. It would have been so easy for me to fall in love with him though, but our lifestyle differences kept me from allowing myself to feel anything else for him.

“But this was the first time you’d seen him since he left, wasn’t it?”

“Your imagination is as active as you are mistaken.” The piece wasn’t coming together the way music normally did for me and I reworked the measure again. Annoyance flashed through me as it still sounded off somehow. Something was missing.

“So seeing him with his _wife_ on his arm did nothing to you?” Heidi’s skepticism almost made me laugh. “It didn’t hurt that the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with fell in love with someone else.”

“Now you’re imagining things, but if you must know, I was happy for him. He found someone who could love him as he deserved.”

“So there was nothing that happened that day that bothered you?”

The flash of Leah’s human eyes when she first caught sight of me in the clearing filled my mind, mistrust and fear, mixed with something nameless, yet profound.

That night in her arms hadn’t felt like just a bit of meaningless sex, at least not in the end. For a moment, I thought I could taste her on my tongue, spice, musk, warmth, and something entirely Leah as her sighs of pleasure echoed in my ears.

When I left her, it caused an odd ache in my chest, almost as though I was leaving a part of myself with her. I’d wanted nothing more than to stay there with her in the woods and create a life with her. But her pack and my coven would never have allowed that.

Maybe I should have asked her to come with me. Aro was curious enough about her species he would have allowed it. The trouble was, would a wild creature like her be happy in the dungeons I called home? Even as I thought the question, I knew the answer. No. Leah would wither in this gilded cage I used to be satisfied in.

“Are you even listening to me, Demetri?” Heidi huffed.

“What did you say?” I blinked, surprised at how thoroughly Leah consumed my mind. I was so used to my multi-faceted cognitive thought that to have every single thought focused on her, it was unusual.

“Unbelievable!”

I heard Heidi fix her dress and then she stormed from the room, leaving me alone with my memories.

Growling in frustration, I stood up and walked over to my armchair near the fireplace. I picked up my sketchbook and flipped it open. Taking out a pencil, I started tracing the shape of her eyes. While I could recreate the likeness of her exactly, I could never capture the fire in her eyes. Graphite and paper left her image lacking, no matter how perfect it was. Finally, after several minutes, I managed to get the pieces of elusive music fixed in my head where I wanted it to be and I returned to my piano.

What was so different about her that made it nearly impossible for me to compose? I’d never struggled like this before. Usually, everything flowed easily, so much so that I could make up a concerto as I played. But now, I felt almost human in my endeavor.

As my fingers moved over the keys, someone knocked on my door.

I flashed over to the door and opened it to find Felix on the other side with his hands clasped behind his back.

“May I come in?”

“Of course.” I stepped out of the way and my friend walked into the room.

Closing the door, I took my seat at my piano and started playing again.

“What’s going on with you?” Felix cocked his head.

“What do you mean?” I knew better than to think I could hide everything from my closest friend.

“I just saw Heidi on her way to her rooms and she didn’t look happy.” Felix frowned. “From the way she was dressed, she was planning on having sex with you, but she didn’t look ruffled, at least not in the way you usually leave her. What happened?”

“I sent her away.”

“You never turn her down before.”

“I’m aware of that, but I looked at her and felt nothing,” I admitted. Felix’s shock would have been humorous any other time, but not in my current frame of mind. “She’s just not the sort of person I want to bed any longer.”

Felix studied me, curious, but he said nothing.

“Is there a reason for your expression?” I asked as I restarted the next measure.

“You’ve changed, my friend. I just wish I knew what happened.”

“Felix, I’m going to ask you not to question me about this.”

“Very well.” Felix shook his head as he walked towards the door. “Since you’re not going to tell me anything, I’ll leave you to your piddling.”

Once Felix was gone, I slammed the key cover down and stood up. Walking over to the fireplace, I stood in front of it, staring into the flames. A part of me was tempted to move closer, in an effort to recreate the warmth of Leah’s skin and I swallowed down the urge.

Leah. Why did she torment me so?

I’d been with people under similar circumstances, but none of them made such an impact on me. But this one, she’d affected every part of my mind, leaving me floundering. Since when did I become so fixated on anyone, especially someone who wasn’t a vampire?

Fascination was one thing, but this, this was something else. What did she do to me? It had to have been her. Before I laid eyes on her in the clearing, I was content with my life, but something she did when she looked into my eyes, it twisted my mind. Wolves had a magic all their own and somehow she used that magic on me. She reached into my brain and suddenly, I was obsessed with her.

I had to end this, to prove that she didn’t own me, that she didn’t control me, but I couldn’t tell anyone what I was doing otherwise it could cause an uproar. Knowing Caius, he might go so far as to use it as an excuse to declare open war on the Cullens if he found out.

Going over to my amour, I pulled out a bag and gathered anything of value to me that could be carried. One I’d dealt with Leah, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I wasn’t coming back here. Volterra held nothing for me now. With a quick glance around, I saw nothing else I could take with me and I left the room.

Fortunately, I ran into no one as I left the castle. They would soon realize I’d left, but they wouldn’t put the pieces together as to where I’d gone just yet.

 

The flight to Seattle was both far too long and much too short. While I wanted to see Leah, to understand what it was she did to me, I wasn’t sure I was ready to face her. No one had ever reduced me to such a state.

“Is there something I can get for you?” the flight attendant had finally gotten up the courage to speak to me towards the end of the flight.

She leaned a little too close for comfort and the dull flames in my throat burned a little hotter as the sound of her pulse thudding in my ears. If we were alone, I might have ripped her jugular out simply on principle.

“Sir?”

“Leave me be,” I said without opening my eyes.

“If there’s anything I can get for you, just let me know.” The tone of her voice told me exactly what she had in mind. If I wasn’t on a mission, I might have taken her up on her offer, just not in the way she had in mind.

After we taxied into the gate, I maneuvered myself as to be the first one off.

No sooner had the door opened that I was striding down the ramp as quickly as I dared. Soon, very soon, I would be face to face with the one who snarled my mind.

Once I was free of the mess of the airport and its security systems, I ducked into an ally way and I ran as fast as I could towards Leah’s signature. Soon, very soon she would have to answer for what she did to my mind, whatever it was.

As I drew closer, I was surprised to find her at the Cullens. Wolves and vampires didn’t coexist, could they?

Apparently they could, because Carlisle opened the door as I approached the white house.

“Demetri, we’ve been expecting you.”

Of course he would. So much for the element of surprise, damned psychic.

“Please, come in.”

“I apologize for the intrusion. I did not realize I would be coming here,” I said as I walked passed Carlisle into the pale, yet warmly decorated front room. If it wasn’t for the stench of wolves, it would have been pleasant.

Why did Leah smell so different from the others? It was yet another item I had to add to my list of things about the she-wolf that made no sense.

Several wolves had apparently been lounging around the room, if the smell was anything to go by, but they were now all on their feet, scowling at me, the youngest one going so far as to shake a little.

Whatever Leah had told them, it couldn’t have been the truth and I felt my rage spiking at that. How dare she make this out to be more than it was? Then again, what was I doing here? I never followed up on one night stands before.

“What are you doing here, leech?” the biggest one, the alpha, I assumed, snapped.

“I have some business with one of your fellows, Leah.”

“Yeah, I know.” He stepped closer to me, teeth clenched. “I’d like nothing more than to shove my foot up your ass, but Leah would flip, so hear this, tick, if you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

As if he could. I fought a smirk at that. If it was just me verses the wolves, I would have said something, but I bit back a reply, because they had the Cullens on their side, which left me at a disadvantage I didn’t dare try to overcome.

“Leah’s been through enough. She doesn’t need you screwing things up for her,” another one chimed in, equally upset.

I got a feeling that they knew something I didn’t know and that was unsettling.

“Perhaps we should let them talk before we make more threats of violence,” Carlisle cut in.

Not for the first time I was grateful that Carlisle knew me so well. I wasn’t likely to get answers from Leah if I gutted a member of her pack. While I wasn’t one to use violence first, I just couldn’t seem to think clearly now that I was so close to my goal.

“If you would follow me?”

He led the way up the stairs until we stopped at a door where Leah’s signature was the strongest.

Everything was going to change. I wasn’t sure how, but I could feel it and if I had a pulse, my heart would be pounding out of my chest as Carlisle raised his hand to knock.

“Leah? It’s Carlisle. May I come in? I need to speak to you about something.”

“Sure.”

Her voice sounded off, but I didn’t have much time to analyze it because Carlisle opened the door to reveal Leah curled up on the bed.

When she saw me, she sat up, but kept the blankets pulled up. She looked so pale, so fragile, as if a strong wind could shatter her. She was so strong when I met her. What happened to her? Steeling myself against anything she might say, I stepped into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was supposed to post this a few weeks ago, but between my cousin marrying a woman whose mother dislikes his family and my younger sister's cancer diagnosis, it's been a little rough.


End file.
